


Growing young again

by Gemenice



Category: The Flash, The Flash (Comics), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Children, ColdFlash Week, Day 5, or well one child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-21 13:32:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4830941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemenice/pseuds/Gemenice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There seemed to be something tangled in clothes – perhaps an animal or something and Barry walked over slowly, really hoping whatever it was, it wasn't dead. Not that he would fall to his knees crying, he just really, really had a shitty day already and he didn't want to imagine some child's face when they found out their pet fell victim to this day. And when Barry managed to peel part of the clothing back to peer down after he steeled himself for the worst, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open just a little bit as he crouched down. It was a child."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Barry took a deep breath once the energy disappeared and he was finally, finally able to stop the mad run. Kudos to Cisco for coming up with a plan that worked. He rested his hands on his knees, trying to get his breath under control while he looked around, wincing at the damage this thing caused – until his eyes stopped on a small bundle near the center of the circle that Barry managed to make.

There seemed to be something tangled in clothes – perhaps an animal or something and Barry walked over slowly, really hoping whatever it was, it wasn't dead. Not that he would fall to his knees crying, he just really, really had a shitty day already and he didn't want to imagine some child's face when they found out their pet fell victim to this day. And when Barry managed to peel part of the clothing back to peer down after he steeled himself for the worst, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open just a little bit as he crouched down. It was a child.

A small boy maybe between nine and eleven if Barry should guess, and Barry stared, because what the hell . He didn't see anyone. Okay, he got to the place a bit late, the energy from the machine – that he'll still have to find and bring to Cisco, he can't forget about that – blasting everywhere, so he didn't exactly triple check, but he couldn't see anyone, and now finding the unconscious kid here... and he was unconscious, because Barry could see his little chest lifting but god. Barry was an idiot. Cisco, Cait and all the rest were idiots, because none of them checked and if the plan didn't work, if the energy would blast instead of disappearing into the speed force, the kid would be dead for sure and oh god, it would've been his fault. He  was supposed   to be a freaking hero, not a killer. He frowned and picked up the kid, pressing him to his chest and flashing out over to STAR labs – Cait could check up on him, while Barry was beating himself over his stupidity. No problem.

“We have a problem, get ready.” Barry said in the transmitter in his costume, his feet moving quickly, while he was cradling the boy to his chest protectively, so the wind wouldn't hurt him, or bring him any kind of discomfort.

Once at the labs (oh god finally) Cait stared at him, but didn't say anything as Barry put the boy down and she checked up on him, huffing for him to leave when he couldn't stay still and Barry did, but he stopped on the other side of the door. The kid wasn't dead. He was just unconscious, he'll get out of it and Barry really didn't need to feel as shitty as he did.

“You really don't.” Cisco said as he looked up from his tablet and Barry realized he might said that out loud, “you saved the city.” he added and Barry frowned at that. Did Cisco really think it was that simple?

“But if the energy didn't work the way we hoped, he would've been dead.”

“Barry, it's not-”

 

“Don't 'Barry' me.” The speedster snapped, then blinked taking a deep breath. “I'm sorry, Cisco, I'm just a bit... just a bit stressed.” He said, his eyes moving back to the kid on the bed. He didn't want to think about him not being able to save everyone. Because that was what Flash was supposed to be. A sign of things getting better, a hope for these people who he'll be there, that they don't have to worry, because he was there to help. Only it wasn't the case obviously, and what if next time there won't be luck on his side and he  _will_  find what he feared he would today?

“You didn't bring the machine, did you?” Cisco asked and Barry groaned, pressing his hand to his forehead, groaning, before flashing out once more. The kid will have to be fine until he'll get back. It won't take long for sure.

* * *

 

Only it took longer than he'd thought because the damn device wasn't anywhere to be found. And he told Cisco exactly that when he returned, Cisco having that look on his face that Barry wasn't really sure what it meant, and he turned to leave, when Cisco blinked.

“Oh yeah. The kid is awake.” He said, pressing few more buttons on his tablet. “Cait's with him and -” but Barry already ran off and into Cait's office.

The boy was indeed  awake. But he was frowning, not even looking at Cait that was kneeling in front of him asking him something, the boy's fingers twitched and he curled them up,  fisting his pants and – okay, so Caitlin managed to find him some clothes that actually fit him. When she noticed Barry she stood up and walked over to him, motioning with her head to follow her out. Barry frowned but did so and once she closed the door behind them he took a deep breath.

“He's okay, right?” he asked, still feeling guilty about what could've happened. And when Caitlin nodded he smiled. “Great, so we can call his family. Or I can get him to them and-”

“Well uhm... that might be a problem.” She said and Barry frowned, because god no... just no, don't let this kid be an orphan. Not today, Barry just wanted a bit of a happy end, just  _one_  happy ending for this bad day.

“His parents are not dead, are they?”

“Well, uhm... I think yes, but that's not  _the_  problem.” Cait shrugged and when Barry frowned, confused she took a deep breath. “He's Leonard Snart.”

Barry stared for a moment, then started laughing, because ha-ha, Cisco and Caitlin will have to learn not to make stupid jokes when it's not April Fool's day. But Caitlin was just staring at him, not joining in and not patting his back, snickering,  _nothing_  and Barry stared at her, before giving out another nervous laugh and shaking his head.

“No, okay?” He asked and licked his lips, running a hand over his cheek because this was really, really stupid. “ _That_  is not Leonard Snart.” he said, pointing at the door, because whatever this prank was, it wasn't funny and Cait should just come out and say it. “I know what Leonard Snart looks like, I've seen him just yesterday, and I'm  _pretty_  sure I'd notice if he was a little kid!”

“Barry, we did the fingerprints and DNA test and everything. All of them came up with Snart's name.” Cait said quietly and Barry's eyes jumped to the kid again, to  _ Snart _, who was sitting there, frowning, but looking so freaking lost...

“So what does that mean?” He asked, turning back to his friend. “That he's been turned into a kid?” Because that sounded crazy. Sure, Cisco did say that the energy seemed to content of something weird, but he didn't think it would be freaking time vortex or something. “So what he... time traveled?” He asked scoffing and Caitlin rolled her eyes.

“No. But his body cells show the strain of growing younger rapidly.”

“So what you're saying is that he got turned into a child?” Because that sounded so freaking  _bizarre_  that even Caitlin had to agree with him, but she just shrugged again, her shoulders twitching just a little as if she was still trying to come up with the right answer herself.

“Basically.”

And okay... what the hell. This felt like a dream, a nightmare, something, just not the reality.

“Does he know who he is?” Barry asked in the end, because what  _else_  was he supposed to say to that?

“Well, he knows he's Leonard Snart . And he knows anything that eleven years old  Snart should.”

“So he doesn't remember being criminal?”

“He's not a criminal yet.” Cait corrected and Barry sighed. This was really messed up.

“What are we going to do?” He asked, running his hand through his hair and Caitlin shrugged.

“Cisco is already working on the reading of the energy. Maybe if he can recreate it, and then change it, it would reverse whatever this thing is.” She said and looked at Barry. “Until he does though, we can't have him here in labs. We don't know if he'll remember this time after he turns back ,and he might see something we don't want him to.” Because child or not, when Snart  'grows up' he was still going  to be the same Captain Cold. Barry could understand that reasoning.

“But what does that have to do with me?” He asked, and Cait was giving him THE look and he groaned. “No. I can't just bring him home! What would Joe say?”

“Well you can explain to him.” Cait said and rolled her eyes. “I mean he understood you being Flash, this isn't much harder to believe.”

Barry wanted to groan and complain, but he turned to the little Snart once more and … was the kid trembling? His fingers still clutched in his pants, he was breathing quickly and suddenly he looked up... and was that dampness in his eyes?

Barry groaned and knew what was the next horrible decision in his life going to be. He didn't say anything, just went through the door and smiled – the kid wasn't a criminal, he repeated to himself, crouching down.

“Hey. You wanna get out of here?” He asked offering his hand and Snart watched Barry for a long moment, eyes hard and mistrustful and a bit worried and Barry really tried not to feel like he was being judged – but then Snart slipped his small hand into Barry's and Barry squeezed it. 

"It's going to be okay, Lenny." 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Getting the kid – Lenny settled wasn't that hard. He didn't talk at all on the drive home, just stared out of the window, trying to make himself as small as possible in his seat and Barry wondered what to talk about. There wasn't much he could say and he was a bit surprised when Len was the one to break the silence.

“Where's Lisa?” He asked and Barry blinked at that, because _of course_ Snart would care about his sister, why didn't he think about that before?

“She isn't here.” And that seemed to be the wrong answer, because Len froze at that and bit his lip for a moment.

“Is she with father?” There was something wrong about that sentence, the slight tremor which with it was said and Barry remembered that talk with Joe when he first met Snart and the file about Snart's father being corrupted cop, send to prison and all.

“Don't worry. Lisa is with a friend. She's safe.” And he wasn't even lying. Lisa was with Rory who Snart considered a friend as far as Barry knew, trusting him with his own life and even with Lisa's. There was that part where Lisa was an adult and a criminal as well, and could pretty much take care of herself, but Barry wasn't mentioning that one just yet. Getting Len upset wouldn't be such a good thing, probably, if the guy could get into half of the problems his adult version could. And there was that thing where he didn't trust Barry yet and being around people he didn't even know must be pretty hard for him. Though maybe it wasn't so bad. If the other people that he knew were his father's friends, people who maybe knew about the abuse that the two went through, maybe didn't, and didn't do anything at all, didn't help those kids - maybe it was good that none of them were around. Barry could imagine how it would feel for a child not getting the help they needed and how it would change their view on all adults, especially the ones they saw more often. So maybe it was good, because he didn't break Snart’s- no, Lenny's vague trust yet.

“Why isn't she here?” Len asked and shook his head. “Father's going to get mad. Lisa needs me there, before he finds out.”

And it tore at Barry's heart, because there was panic in Len's voice and also determination and Barry stopped the car on the sideway, turned to the kid and took a deep breath.

“Your father is not going to hurt you anymore.” He said quietly after the kid looked at him, distrust so obvious in his eyes as he sneered. Okay, there went Barry's hopes for at least a tiny bit of trust.

“Yeah? And who's going to stop him? Cops?” Len asked, lifting his hand to touch at his arm, just above the elbow. “He's one of them. They never believe me.” Len said quietly, before turning his head to stare outside the window. “They always believe HIM, because he tells them we deserved it and it wasn't so bad. He tells them we exa-.. Exaggerate.” Barry could hear him taking a shaky breath before the kid turned to him once again.

“I can take it. Lisa can't. I need to get back to her.”

And Barry really couldn't help himself. He reached over, pulling the kid as close to him as possible, pressing Len's head to his chest and rocking them a bit.

“I won't allow him to hurt you or Lisa again.” He said quietly, with the boy frozen in his arms. It wasn't often that he was shown affection, probably. “He won't ever touch you.” And not only because the man _couldn't_ anymore, but Barry would _hurt_ him if he tried. If he ever got back in time and saw the Snarts’ father, Barry would hurt him bad, because how could anyone do this to their own children? How could anyone do this to _any_ child at all?!

And Len's breath hitched a bit and Barry could see his fingers curling into the seat.

“You can't stop him.” The boy whispered and Barry bit his lip, before pulling away to look down at the kid.

“I'll tell you a secret, okay? I'm somewhat of a hero around here. My word goes.” It wasn't as if Snart didn't know that already anyway, and the look that Len gave him was full of guessing and judging once again, before the brat snorted at him.

“You want to tell me you actually save people?” He asked, but he sniffed and it was when he lifted his hand to brush at his eyes that Barry realized they seemed a bit wet. So he huffed, pretending to be offended.

“I totally do! I'm the best superhero you could imagine!” And Len snorted again and he rolled his eyes at Barry, but he was smiling a tiny bit so Barry counted that as a win.

“I didn't know dorky nerds could be superheroes.”

“Hey! How would you know if I were either of those things?”

“I'm _eleven_. I go to school. I know what dorks and nerds look like.”

And Barry felt like he ought to be insulted. But Len didn't seem to think about his father anymore, because he was staring out of the window, his hands unclenched once more and Barry huffed something about nerds being the new cool and started the car again. The ride was quiet until they got home and Barry forced Len to eat at least something and drink a glass of juice before brushing his teeth and going to sleep in Barry's bed. He wouldn't mind sleeping on the couch – and he had to talk to Joe anyway.

* * *

 

“This is a joke, isn't it?” Joe asked and Barry took a deep breath, okay, he expected that Joe wouldn't be too happy, but he also expected himself to be the one to explain the situation to him. Not Cait and Cisco calling him before he actually got home. Which okay, he understood, Joe was part of the Team Flash as well in a way, but well.. At least now he knew how he felt about this whole situation.

“No, it's not. Look, he needed help and-”

“He's a criminal, Barry! Did you fail to see that little bit?” The man asked and Barry groaned.

“He's not, okay?” He asked, because it was unfair. Len - the kid – wasn't a criminal. He didn't yet get to make the decisions that would get him on that road, he was still years and years away from that and it was unfair to judge him, even though the future when he became a criminal was Joe's and Barry's presence. And he really hoped that Joe raising his voice wouldn't wake Len up. He didn't want the boy to trust him even less. “He's a kid, Joe, what was I supposed to do? Leave him at Star Labs? Call the police?” He asked and shook his head. “He doesn't deserve that.” And there must've been something in his face, because Joe never gave up just like that. He always had a lot of arguments, things that would sometimes stop Barry and make him think, but he wouldn’t let Joe to change his mind on this. Because he was pretty sure about this one thing.

“You really mean that.” Joe sighed in the end and sat down in the chair, looking at Barry. “Do you even know anything? When is he gonna change back?”

Barry shrugged. Caitlin wasn't clear on that. She didn't even tell IF Snart was going to change back and going by the look in Joe's face he knew that as well.

“So what are you going to do if he's stuck like this?” Joe asked and in next moment looked Barry in the eyes. And Barry knew what he saw there, because he could see Joe groan and shook his head.

“No, no way in hell.” When Barry didn’t say anything, Joe ran his hand through his hair, glaring at Barry. “I’m not saying this just because of you. I’m saying this because of him too. You’re not – it’s not _easy_ being a parent, Barry. It’s actually pretty freaking hard, even with a kid that knew you ever since he was born. And this is Snart we’re talking about. He is going to be even more difficult. And you’re supposed to have a life on your own, kid. You can’t play father, Barry.” He said and just _looked_ at Barry and Barry sighed.

“Look, Joe… I understand. And I’m thankful to you for everything, but… it won’t be playing if he’s stuck like there. And I’m not letting child services or something take him – it would be also pretty hard to explain all of this stuff to them, don’t you think?” Barry asked and his eyes didn’t waver from Joe.

“It’s going to be hard.” The man repeated and Barry wanted to laugh at that, because what _wasn’t_ hard ever since he became The Flash? Even talking to his family seemed so much harder than before.

“I know.”

“You don’t owe anything to him.”

“I know that as well.” Because Barry knew that he couldn’t change past no matter how much he wanted to. Because okay, Snart grew up into a bastard but what if this was the world giving him a second chance? Barry couldn’t just take it away from him, no matter what. “I just think he has a right to it, you know? To normal life?” Or well, at least half normal since he was already eleven. “For as long as this thing will last.”

Joe watched him for a moment, then sighed.

“You guys need to go shopping. I gave all of your clothes to the charity. Didn’t think you’d need it so soon.” He pointed out and Barry couldn’t help but smile, wide and happy as he nodded at Joe.

“That’s the plan for tomorrow.” And when Joe stood up and hugged him, Barry was still nervous, because he didn’t want to fuck this all up. But he also felt so much better, and he didn’t even know how much he wanted, no needed Joe’s support. Oh he was decided to do it all even without it, but now, when he had it, his chest felt so much lighter.

“Thank you, Joe.” He whispered quietly, his head pressed against Joe’s shoulder.

“Hey. That’s what family’s for.” And that was so nice that Barry couldn’t help but smile. “Though I wonder how long he will stay alive if you’re the one taking care of him.”

“Joe!”

* * *

 

“What about this one?” Barry asked and tried to hide his snickers as he lifted the blue penguin pyjamas. “I mean, I think it’s pretty cool or?”  And hey, now he knew that Snart could pull off that cold murdering look ever since he was a child. Though right now it looked more adorable than scary, but Barry was a smart man (sometimes) and he decided against voicing that bit.

“No.” Lenny shook his head and Barry shrugged.

“Why not? It looks pretty cozy and warm.”

“It has _penguins_ on it.” Len huffed as if Barry didn’t notice. Or well, maybe he hoped he didn’t.

“Yeah, well that’s what makes it so nice.” Barry offered and laughed for real when Len’s eyebrow twitched. “We’re getting this one.” He said and when Len opened his mouth, Barry lifted up a hand. “But you can choose the second one. How about that?” He asked, and watched how Len thought about that, and he could almost see the little wheels turning in his head, before the boy nodded.

“Can I choose whichever I want?” He asked, his voice laced with suspiciousness, and Barry nodded.

“Whichever you want.”

“And can we leave after that?” He asked, his eyes narrowing slowly. Barry lifted an eyebrow, then looked down at the heap of clothes in their shopping cart – that should be enough for a moment at least, and they could buy more stuff after the check in with Caitlin next week. When Barry called her earlier she said that seeing if there was any change in Len’s cells would be able to figure out what was happening to him and when he might turn back.

“We might leave _this_ shop.” Barry said and watched as Len groaned, letting his head fall back (and he wouldn’t even think that something like this could ever make him happy. But the kid wasn’t tense around him anymore and even talked to him as if he wasn’t afraid – something that didn’t happen around Joe. Len was always careful, standing or sitting as far away from the man as he could without looking too suspicious and being as quiet as possible. Though he did ask Barry if Joe was a cop when they were eating breakfast, alone and when Barry agreed, the boy just frowned harder and didn’t say anything else. Barry figured out it had something to do with all the policemen that visited Len’s house and didn’t know or didn’t care for the abuse going on there. He probably viewed all cops as part of his father’s friends – and that might’ve been one of the reasons why Barry didn’t exactly share what his job was with Len yet.). “And we can get something to eat, before dinner. There is this small coffee shop close by. They have wonderful muffins there.”

Len’s eyes snapped to Barry at the last sentence and he bit his lip.

“Muffins?” He repeated quietly and oh, Barry had him. Of course all kids loved sweets. Abused or not, that was one thing that never changed. So he nodded and crouched down, in front of Len – funny how small he was as a kid, he probably hit a growing spurt later on in his life.

“Yes, muffins. All kinds of muffins. And maybe we could get hot chocolate too.” Well, coffee for him, but Len was good during the shopping. He did deserve a treat.

“And _then_ we can go to your place?”

“Yep. Then we can go home.”

Len nodded and turned from Barry, walking down the row of the PJs, before stopping in front of dark blue one and looking it over. After the inspection he nodded, picked it up and turned to Barry.

“This one.” Barry smiled and nodded, taking the Pjs and turning to leave, just to be stopped by a hand clutching at his sleeve. Len wasn’t looking at him, he was staring at small golden shirt and Barry lifted an eyebrow.

“Hey… is something wrong?” It took a while, but Len shook his head, bit his lip and, still not looking at Barry opened his mouth.

“Can we get a shirt for Lisa?” He asked so, so quietly that Barry almost didn’t hear him. But he did, and he could feel something clenching over his heart, but he forced himself to smile and nod. Well, Lisa would probably never find out anyway.

“Of course we can.” He said and took the shirt off, before offering it to Len. “Are you going to carry it to the cashier?” The boy nodded, took the shirt and walked in front of Barry, but never straying too far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whatever did you think? 
> 
> Feel free to come and visit [My tumblr ](http://gemenice.tumblr.com)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I kind of changed a few things when it comes to canon. But this IS kind of AU so, I hope it's fine. A bit less Len in this chapter, but I felt that dealing with these things was important.

A week went by. Most of the time that passed consisted of Barry taking Len out and buying stuff that kids his age would need in his opinion – like more clothes, shoes, some books and okay, there was that time when Barry bought a Hawkeye comic and when the cashier mentioned how nice it was that Barry was taking care of his little brother and buying comics for him and stuff, Len looked at her with narrowed eyes and scoffed.

“That’s for HIM, not me.” He huffed in that condescending tone of his, the one that went ‘you must be really retarded if you would think _I_ would be the one reading trash like this, but I’m not going to tell you, because this guy would give me _another_ lecture about how to behave’ and Barry just smiled at the girl as she eyed the two of them. Well, so what, she was thinking he was a nerd. Not really something that other people didn’t think yet.

“Also he is not my brother.” Barry blinked at that and looked at Len. Uh oh.

“Really?” The girl smiled at Len and shrugged. “Then what are you? Cousins?” She added as she looked appreciatively over Barry and maybe the fact that she was looking at him like that was why he didn’t even think about pulling Len away then and there.

“We are nothing. I just met him a week ago.” Len said, and Barry could _hear_ the warning bells ringing in the back of his mind, because Len’s voice slipped lower.

“Oh.. .so he took you in or something? You don’t have any family? That’s so nice of him.”

“No, I have a family. I have my sister and he doesn’t want to tell me where she is.” Len said, his bottom lip wobbling. “I went to sleep at home and then woke up and he was there and he doesn’t want to take me home.” There was the little sniff coming from the boy and-

Okay, fuck it all. He’ll never think that Len was anything else than a little asshole even as a kid, ever again. And the girl looked at him, her eyes wide and her hand slipped to the phone and Barry lifted his hands up in surrender and quickly shook his head.

“It’s not like that at all, I swear. I’m with CCPD, I work in forensics and his father is a suspect and we found him at the crime scene and, and…” Okay, he’ll have to work on improvisation. Especially since the girl didn’t seem like she believed him at all, so he rattled out Joe’s name, telling her that he was the detective in charge of the case and ran out of the shop the moment he could, half of the groceries lost in the process, but his hand was firmly gripping Len’s and he glared at the boy. Who, of _course,_ had no signs of the teary eyes he had just a few moments ago.

“What was _that_ supposed to be?” Barry hissed at him, because Len was a little shit when he put his will into it.

Len huffed and glared at Barry.

“You don’t want to take me to Lisa! You don’t even want to tell me where she is! I’m not stupid, ‘she is with a friend’ doesn’t sound like bullshit only so long!”

“Language.” Barry said, because really. He sighed and shook his head, running his free hand over his hair as he licked his lips, before crouching down to Len. The boy didn’t even look at him, glaring at a tree not too far from them and Barry sighed, shaking his hand a little.

“Len.” He said quietly and then waited until the boy’s head turned slowly to him. “I’m sorry. Look, things are a bit… complicated. But I swear your sister is fine and _not_ with your father, okay? She is safe. No one is hurting her.” Well, more likely it’s the other way around. “And I want you guys to meet, I want to take you to her, it’s just…” Barry groaned and shook his head. “Look, I want only what’s best for you, okay? And I’m trying, I’m trying really hard, and I know you are confused and don’t understand it all, hell, I don’t understand this clusterfuck.” But he didn’t know how to explain it and he scrunched his eyes closed, feeling stupid and desperate, because okay, he had hard time dealing with this, but what about Len, it had to be so much harder for him, because he was just a kid and-

“Language.” Len said quietly and squeezed Barry’s hand and Barry’s eyes snapped open and to the kid. Len still looked angry, but he was also looking at Barry with those eyes, ones that made Barry feel like _he_ was the child there, like he was the one lost in this all, and Len was there to be the shoulder to lean on for Barry. And Barry really couldn’t be blamed for reaching out and pulling Len to him, hugging him as close as he could.

“You really are something, you know.” Barry muttered quietly.

“I vote for ‘still mad’.” Len said, but his small hands clutched at Barry’s jacket and Barry sighed.

“I know. And you have the right to be.”

They stayed hugging for a while, until Len pulled at Barry’s hair lightly.

“We should get back. West said his daughter was coming for dinner.” And yeah, there was that also. When Joe found out that Barry talked to Caitlin and she said that she didn’t see any change when it came to Len’s cells, he decided that informing Iris that Barry is taking care of a kid might be a good idea. (Of course only about taking in a child for some time, not really explaining to her who Len was, something Barry didn’t agree exactly with yet again. Because telling Iris would so much easier and he was starting to hear enough about the excuse that it would be just too dangerous for her). Iris being Iris told them she’ll come visit right away, telling them she’ll even cook dinner. Barry was a bit worried that she’ll try the same as Joe did, telling him that he should give Len away, but… Iris always had a way of understanding some things that Joe was blind to.

“Yes.” He nodded and smiled. “You’ll like her, she’s really nice.”

* * *

 

“Oh god, he’s so cute!” Iris smiled wide at Barry when he joined her outside on the stairs after tucking Len in the bed (oh, he wasn’t naïve enough to think that the kid would actually fall asleep. He’ll probably read or something though, so it was safe). When Barry nodded at that, her smile softened.

“You kind of look like a proud parent, you know?” She asked, and okay. That couldn’t be it. He didn’t feel like parent, he was just, well, happy that she took it so lightly. Sure she asked who the boy was over dinner and Barry told her that his name was ‘just Len’, no last name, nothing that she could work it, and she gave Barry that look, but in the end nodded, accepting his explanation about Len being a child of a suspect, - the same one he gave to the cashier girl. It was easier to stick with one lie. And it also wasn’t a total lie, because Snart senior had been a suspect at some point in his life. “That’s not a bad thing, it’s nice to see you passionate about something – or well, someone. So he sleeps in your room?”

And Barry was really happy that she asked him something that he could actually answer.

“Yes. I couldn’t just let him sleep on the couch.”

“So you’re sleeping on the couch instead of him?” Iris asked with a knowing smile, before shrugging. “It seems like he’s going to stay here for a while.” She added, offering Barry the cup of hot tea.

“Yeah, well, if I’ll have my way.” He nodded his thanks as he sipped from the cup slowly. Iris pursed her lips.

“It also sounds to me like there is more to the story than him being the kid of a suspect.” Okay, so maybe she didn’t take it as lightly as Barry thought she did. He really had no idea what to tell her though. “Does this have anything to do with you being … all over the place lately and distracted and with Eddie being the way he is, like… alienating with this big secret he keeps?”

The smile fell from Barry’s lips and he sighed. Of course. He leaned his head back and took a deep breath.

“Iris, it’s not-“

“I know, Barry. But I’m not stupid, I’ve known you for what? Fifteen years? I can see something’s changed, that something’s happening with you. We didn’t _have_ secrets.” Iris said and shook her head. “Something changed when you woke up from that coma. And I’m happy you did,” she reached over, squeezing Barry’s hand, “I’m so glad to have you back, it’s just… you remember what you told me when you asked me to stop my blog? That you were worried about something happening to me and about how hard it is, losing family? This feels like I’m losing you. And all these secrets, shushing things. Whatever this is, it’s part of your life. I want to be a part of your life as well. I’m not blind, Barry.”

And Barry couldn’t really remember the last time he felt like crying, but suddenly he did, so tired of this whole thing, this charade that he was supposed to keep up…

“I want to tell you, Iris.” Barry whispered, his hand turning around to grasp at Iris’ palm and he shook his head. “I really, really do. I just… can’t.” And the promise to Joe felt so heavy in his heart and Barry really didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to break Joe’s trust; the man had been there for him when no one else was, but Iris had been too and… and Barry felt like he was between a rock and a hard place.

He could hear Iris sigh and she rested her head against his shoulder.

“I know. I can’t say I get it, or that it doesn’t frustrate me to no end. It drives me up the wall and is just getting on my nerves. But I know. I just... want you to know that when you feel comfortable with this thing… I’ll listen okay?”

And okay. He didn’t expect that from Iris and – wait…

“Iris, I’m not-“

“Now, come on.” She said, standing up and taking the cup from Barry, not listening. “We need to talk to dad.”

“What? What about?”

“Giving Len my room, of course.” Iris smiled over her shoulder, walking back inside the house. “You can’t keep sleeping on the couch forever, and I’m not using the room anyway. And I also don’t want dad to turn into one of those creepy parents that keep their children’s room untouched, even though they are living somewhere else for twenty years.” She shrugged and turned to Barry with a small smile. “It might also show dad and Eddie that I _am_ serious about this relationship, even though we’re kind of in this argument at the moment.”

Barry really wished that it wouldn’t hurt so much, forcing his face to morph into a smile and nodded.

“Yeah, relationships can be a bit hard.”

Iris scoffed.

“You can say _that_ again.”

* * *

“No.”

“Dad, he needs his own space!” Iris huffed, her arms coming to cross over her chest in stance so similar to Joe’s who was standing opposite her, glaring just as fiercely as she did.

“The space won’t be your space. What if you want to come home again?”

Iris rolled her eyes.

“I’m with Eddie now. And a little rough patch shouldn’t be something that would make me come back home. You can’t keep my room untouched forever.” Iris sighed, letting her arms fall down and shrugged.

“You gave Barry mom’s room, when you took him in.” There was the slump in Joe’s posture and suddenly Barry felt guilty. He never realized that maybe; Joe had to give up some memories when he moved in, some kind of his own sanctuary.

“That was the right thing to do.”

Iris smiled at that and nodded, stepping closer to her father.

“And this is the right thing to do now. Barry is doing the very same thing that you did. He’s helping a kid, someone who wouldn’t be able to help themselves on their own. I’m not even using the room anymore, dad. There are just old dolls and books. Which I’m thankful you didn’t throw away, but we can pack them up and put them away and then make whole day full of memories on Christmas when we go through them. Like a family. This doesn’t mean I’m leaving and never turning back.” She added when her father didn’t say anything. “It means I’m growing and making my own way, but I’ll always want the two of you around.” She added, pulling Barry closer to them, while she slipped her arm into her father’s elbow. “And I swear I’ll be here every Christmas and New Years and I’ll never skip your birthday or Barry’s or the kid’s now.”

Joe was still frowning, but he shook his head.

“We’re repainting that room. I don’t care about gender stereotypes, but it was a long time ago since he did. So let Len pick the color – and I certainly hope it won’t be pink.”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t care about gender stereotypes?” Iris said, smiling and Barry snickered.

“I think that’s not something we’ll have to worry about. He’ll probably end up having the room painted in ten different shades of blue.” He grinned and then rolled his eyes when Iris started snickering next to him. “Noo, don’t say it.” He whined, shaking his head.

“Fifty shades of blue?” Iris asked and Barry groaned along with Joe.

“Out. Now. You shall not talk about anything related to that book in my house.”

“Hey, you wanted me back just few minutes ago!”

“I forgot about this horrible thing you read. Leap in judgement.” Barry watched as Joe argued with his daughter, smiles and grins playing out on their faces though and he could feel warmth spreading through his chest. He didn’t even hope to get this response from the two of them. The two slipped from books and horrible taste of movies into habits and complaining about food and Barry got lost in his own thoughts after a while so he didn’t notice when Iris turned to him.

“Are you even listening or did you disappear in your nerd world again?” She asked, teasing and Barry rolled his eyes.

“Oh, ha, ha. You’re so funny.”

“Well, I wouldn’t need to be, if you actually paid attention instead of daydreaming about whatever formula in your head.” Barry snorted, but didn’t say anything, so Iris continued. “I was just telling dad that while you two paint Len’s room, I’ll take him shopping.”

And that shouldn’t be good, there was this big neon sign telling Barry that leaving Len alone with Iris wasn’t a good idea at all, he could tell her so much that they didn’t want her to know, but he couldn’t figure a reason why he shouldn’t allow them to go.

“Why? I took him shopping already. We bought clothes.”

Iris rolled her eyes at that.

“Well, okay, but we’re going to go shopping for furniture, _more_ clothes – seriously, Barry, I know you like to go around in like three hoodies, but the rest of us who actually care about fashion, know one can _never_ have enough clothes. And school stuff.”

“School?”

“Yes. You know, that thing that’ll start in about a month?”

And oh god. Suddenly Iris going shopping with Len alone was the last of Barry’s worries. It was the school part that made Barry's stomach jump.

* * *

“Heeey, Felicity.” Barry said into the phone, cheerful and happy and trying to convey every other positive emotion he could think of.

“Barry. You’re calling.” Felicity pointed out and Barry could hear her leaning back on the chair. “Not visiting, not racing over… _Calling._ ”

“Yeah, uhm… I’m kinda busy here.”

“Uh-huh. Not like you couldn’t make the trip… _in a flash_.”

Barry laughed at that, tension leaving his shoulders, because this was Felicity and _how_ could one be nervous around her when she was everything good that this world had to offer?

“Okay, those are horrible puns. And I mean horrible. Do you do this to Oliver as well?”

“No, I try to keep my cool with him. Speaking of cool… “

And oh…

“So you know what this call is about?” Barry asked sheepishly, but hey. He should take it as a good thing – Felicity didn’t hang up on him yet.

“I told you I’m using your satellite every now and then. It’s connected to the computer in STAR labs, and you really need better protection and maybe get someone who can do it right.” She stopped for a while, and then coughed. “And by protection and it I mean, computer related stuff and hacking and counter-hacking and not… something else.”

Barry smiled at that.

“Well, yeah, but no one is as good as you in this thing, so no matter what protection we’ll have you’ll always get in our data.”

“Barry Allen, flattery will get you everywhere. The papers are on your way already and I finished rewriting his school reports just about – _now._ You’re all set.”

For once, Barry was glad that no one was around to see him, because his mouth was hanging open and he was gaping like a fish.

“But I didn’t ask anything yet!”

There was quiet on the other side of the line, before Felicity spoke again.

“You don’t have to. We’re friends.”

And Barry had no idea what to say to that. He was just so thankful for Felicity at the moment, but no words could slip past his lips.

“Hey, I need to go.” Felicity said, “They need something here, but I think you should come visit. Take the kid with you; I’d love to see him. Ray too – Ray would love to see the kid too, not that I would love to see Ray, I mean I do love to see Ray, of course I do, and I see him every day, which is really great – and night too, it helps us, you know develop our relationship so we love to see each other and sometimes not see each other, because we don’t turn the lamp while we are together and-“

Barry couldn’t help but laugh. Sometimes, it felt like lady luck was on his side.

* * *

Lady Luck _so_ wasn’t on his side. Barry thought as he was kneeling behind the barrel, breathing hard. How come he didn’t _watch_ what he was doing?! He was supposed to dodge and he did, but not really, and he heard that crack and now he was here, clutching at his leg. God, it felt broken. He couldn’t wait to run with it, the _joy._

“Come on, Scarlet, we’re not playing anymore.”

Oh yes. And they were another wonderful thing here. Barry licked his lips, trying to sit up more properly.

“Really? I wouldn’t know, considering you didn’t turn me into the golden thing of yours.” He called right back, wincing. Okay, maybe he could run. Wouldn’t be as fast, probably and maybe he’d mess up the leg even more, but Catlin would be able to take care of that.

“Well, I need answers, and other than that, we both know you’re Lenny’s favorite toy. Can’t kill you until he figures out what makes you tick – talking about Lenny…” Barry jumped as the container close to him caught on fire, which meant that Rory was having his own fun, great. “I heard you were the last person to see him.”

“It’s complicated!” Barry tried really hard not to think about facebook at that and took a deep breath. “Put your guns down – both of you and we can talk.” When he didn’t hear any answer he sighed. “I came looking for you, didn’t I?” which he thought was a mistake right now, but he couldn’t really take it back, “So let’s just talk, because it IS really complicated.”

“Fine.” Lisa said after a while and Barry nodded to himself.

“Any chance you’d throw your guns somewhere I can see them?” Another, but this time really short, fire blast was the answer enough. “Yeah, thought so.” Barry muttered to himself and he slowly stood up, trying to keep as much pressure off his leg as he could. Lisa and Rory were standing opposite him and Barry licked his lips.

“I know this will sound crazy, but just listen to me. That thing about two weeks ago? There was this unexplained energy appearing in the center of the city out of nowhere. When I got there, the place seemed empty and the energy was spreading so we contained it and- long story short, after it disappeared I found your brother in the middle of it all, being about eleven years old. With no memories of the present time.” When Lisa narrowed her eyes at him, he continued. “We took him, ran tests, my team is trying to figure out what is really happening with him, but we didn’t find anything other than his cells turning younger at drastic speed until it stopped with him there. We’re trying to find a way to turn him back, but… Caitlin said we should be prepared for the possibility that it might stay that way.” And he could see something in Lisa’s eyes, only he didn’t know what. But it was Rory.

“And we should believe that why?”

“I can’t make you believe that.” Barry shook his head, “but it’s the truth.” He said, his eyes turning to Lisa once again. “He hates blueberry muffins, but when we go shopping he always gets at least one. When I asked him about that, he said he needs to ‘get them for Lisa, because Lisa loves them and dad won’t ever let her any, not even if Mrs. Jones from across the street brought them over’. He has a collection of them by now, and I’m sure they are all hard by now and not really edible.”

And that seemed to be the right thing to say, because there was the quiet gasp from Lisa and she frowned.

“I want to see him.”

“I don’t think that’s a good-“ The barrel of her gold gun was in front of his eyes in next second.

“I want to see him. He’s my brother. He belongs with _us._ “

Gun or not, Barry didn’t care.

“And what, be a little rogue?” He asked, shaking his head. “Running from law, and trying to survive from day to day, just to grow up into another criminal?”

“Being a criminal is a legit lifestyle. Like politician.” Rory muttered and Barry glared.

“This is his chance at normal life. Do you realize that? No father that would beat him up, no need to hide, being able to grow up into something he maybe wanted to be before everything went to hell!”

“Without his family and friends?” Lisa asked, the dangerous glint back in her eyes and Barry shook his head.

“I’m not saying that. I wouldn’t want to take his family away from him.” Losing one’s family felt like you were dying on the inside, Barry knew that feeling. “But his family should also want what’s best for him.”

“And you think that’s you.”

“No! Yes, I… ” Barry groaned and why did this hall have to be so frustrating?! “I know I’m going to mess up, okay? Like I’m horribly messed up on my own already and all that and I know my job isn’t really the safest one there is, but… I want to try. I want to try and make things better. I want to give him a chance, and if he does grow up into a criminal… well at least he’ll have an easier life for a while.”

Lisa watched him, her eyes sharp and cautious, before she put her gun down.

“If you hurt him, you’re dead.” She said sweetly and Barry nodded. It’s not like he expected anything else.

“Also I demand visitation rights. Whenever I want. Along with Mick.”

And wow. Will that be fun to go over with Joe. ‘Hey, I promised these criminals that we’re trying to catch that they can come visit Len whenever to your house, great right?’

“Deal.”


	4. Chapter 4

“I need to tell you something.” Barry said, then winced, because as far as beginnings went, that probably wasn’t the best one. But Iris was looking at him, frowning slightly, before nodding.

 

“I’m listening.” She said, and Barry could see that she was. She had her whole attention trained on him, something that Barry liked some time ago, because it was when Iris was finally seeing him and not someone else, but… but that wasn’t that important right now.

 

“It’s… it’s big. And I don’t want you freaking out, okay? I’ll answer any of your questions, just please remember that nothing changed. I’m still who I am, and I’m so sorry-“

 

“Barry, spill! You’re stalling.” Iris interrupted him and Barry took a deep breath. There it went.

 

“I’m the Flash.” Barry said, looking at Iris. “Or… streak or whatever.” That was the moment when Iris would say something – either wouldn’t believe him, or she’d yell because Barry didn’t tell her sooner, and she’ll worry about him, because being Flash wasn’t exactly the safe choice.

 

But Iris just stared at him, before she nodded.

 

“Thank _god_. Finally.”

 

Yeah, finally because – wait, _what?_ What the hell was _finally_ supposed to mean?

 

“What?” Barry asked, confused as hell. And Iris smiled, wide and sweet – and okay, Barry really didn’t expect that.

 

“Finally you’re telling me. Did you know how hard it was for me? Pretending I had _no_ idea?” And that couldn’t be real. Barry was probably stuck in some dream he couldn’t wake up from because there was no way it would be that easy.

 

“How would you know?” He asked, and shook his head. “That’s not actually possible-“

 

“I’m your _sister_ , Barry. Do you seriously think that when you stand three feet in front of me even with that mask I wouldn’t recognize you?” She asked and shook her head.

 

“But… I vibrated-“

 

“You didn’t vibrate your face right away and I’ve seen you so many times with your head hung down like that… You’re not fooling me, Allen.”

 

Iris was _still_ smiling and maybe it was that, that didn’t allow Barry’s mind to move on.

 

“But… why didn’t you _say_ anything?” He would expect Iris to raise a hell the moment she found out. But she didn’t, she knew and she kept it as a secret for Barry and Barry was lost.

 

“Because it felt like you needed me to be quiet.” Iris said and shrugged. “There had to be a reason why you’re telling me this now and not before. I didn’t want to make it harder for you than it already was. I mean… being Flash sounds like a big responsibility.”

 

Barry didn’t remember a time he loved Iris more. He reached out, hugging her and Iris laughed, hugging him back and patting his cheek.

 

“Now tell me what did you need my help with?” When Barry told her, he wasn’t surprised that Iris was less than overwhelmed with the idea of getting Joe to not mind the Rogues in his house. She wasn’t happy about it, but that didn’t mean she didn’t help. After long and fierce glare battle between the Wests – Barry never knew how exactly the two of them did that, because Barry always gave up after few seconds, Joe huffed and nodded, but under the condition that the house would be monitored from STAR Labs. Something that Barry agreed with happily.

 

***

 

 “How.” Len said, his eyes narrowed, before he turned those big betrayed eyes Barry’s way and Barry really wondered if he ever felt like such a despicable human being. Probably not. Not even that time when Iris made that dog out of snow and Barry wanted a bit of her attention himself so he took it away from her and ran, falling and breaking the dog to tiny pieces in the process. Well, he really was clumsy as a kid, it wasn’t his fault. The whole point was, that not even then, with little Iris sniffling and shaking her head at him, not even then he felt as horrible as he did now.

 

“Len-“

 

“You told me she was with a friend!” Len yelled and stood up and Barry congratulated himself on getting Joe out of the house for the first ‘rouge meeting’. “You forgot to mention a little something!” Barry had the feeling that even if Len liked bad puns he wouldn’t appreciate a ‘little’ pun at the moment. “What happened to her? Why is she all grown up?!”

 

“It’s what happened to _you.”_ Barry said quietly and watched as Len’s eyes widened as he looked from Barry to Lisa and back. And there was so much shock and fear in his eyes that Barry found himself at the loss of words. Thankfully Lisa didn’t. Lisa, who was quiet ever since Barry brought them over then stood up and walked over to Len, crouching down and smiling at him.

 

“It’s okay, Lenny.” She said and grinned. From where Barry was watching, it felt like she just turned something in Snart, because at the sound of her voice Len’s eyes tore up and he quickly scrubbed at them.

 

“No, it’s not! It’s not supposed to be like this! I’m supposed to protect you, not be useless!”

 

“Payback, jerk.” Lisa said, grinning wide and Barry gaped. Couldn’t she see the kid was stressed? Why the hell did she think _that_ was the right way to be nice and supportive sister?! He frowned and took a step forward with every intention to let Lisa know exactly what he thought about her way of doing things and how she could go to hell with more visits, just to be stopped by Rory’s hand on his arm. He turned to the man, glare on full force, but the guy just shook his head and pointed to the Snart’s siblings. Barry turned, half afraid of what he’d find. But Len was standing there, still scowling but he seemed calmer.

 

“This is why I was supposed to be the big brother. You suck at being comforting.”

 

Lisa huffed at that.

 

“So now it’s my fault that you didn’t teach me that?”

 

“Yeah, right.” Len rolled his eyes, the tears all but forgotten. “I was the best brother you could wish for.”

 

…okay. Barry was pretty sure he’ll never be lucky enough (or crazy enough) to understand the relationship between those two. Like was that even healthy? He had certain doubts. And also he obviously blanked out for part of the conversation, because next thing he knew, the Snarts were looking at him and Rory was snickering behind his back.

 

“He didn’t tell me I got fucked up.” Len said to Lisa, obviously, but his eyes didn’t leave Barry. …and why the hell did Barry feel like he was a little kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar?! He was the adult there!

 

“Well, he’s a bit stupid like that.” Lisa told her brother and Barry’s eyes snapped to her.

 

“Hey!”

 

The female part of Snart’s combo snickered and turned to Len. “It’s a part of him that you were kind of fond of, though.”

 

Len huffed and turned to Lisa, biting his lip.

 

“Am I coming with you?” He asked quietly and Barry felt something cold touch his heart. No way. He didn’t want Len to go with Lisa, that would just mess up everything for him once again, because Lisa and Mick were still on a run kind of and Barry really, really didn’t want that, but he couldn’t say anything to her, because she was his family and-

 

“No.” Lisa said and shook her head and Barry wondered just how much did she have to force herself to say that to Len. He knew Lisa adored her brother. He knew that she wanted him around, especially if he was like this, vulnerable and so easy to hurt, but… he was thankful to her that she realized that Len had a chance here. When Len opened his mouth Lisa patted his head. “I’ll come visit though. Like all the time. I’ll even bring you something nice.” Len was glaring at her again, though, she just smirked. “You know, with me being younger I never realized how _small_ you were and-“

 

“Okay, that’s enough go away!” Lisa laughed and hugged Len, pressing a kiss to his cheek, while Len groaned, before standing up.

 

“Yes, yes. I’ll see you, brat. And don’t you dare bring bad ring to Snart’s name by sucking at school.” Len huffed at that and didn’t even look at her as she walked out of the house, shortly followed by Rory.

 

Barry really didn’t understand what those two were about. Though he didn’t have much time to think about it, because it next moment there was a kid hugging him around his waist, and the only indication that Len was crying was the wetness spreading out on Barry’s stomach. The kid didn’t even let out a sound. Barry sighed, knelt down and hugged Len properly, tucking Len’s face into his neck. From that position, he had no chance to see Lisa in similar position, Mick’s arm thrown over her shoulders as they stopped in front of the car, with her hand on her face.

 

***

“Really, Len?” Barry asked shaking his head as he walked down the street. “You broke that kid’s nose!”

 

Len huffed behind him, hurrying after Barry.

 

“It wasn’t my fault!”

  
And really, what the hell, Barry stopped so suddenly that Len walked into his back and he turned, staring at him.

 

“How _wasn’t_ it your fault?! You threw _ice_ into the guy!”

 

“We were playing snowball fights!” Len said, his arms crossing over his chest as he glared at Barry. The kid couldn’t be serious.

 

“ _ICE!_ ”  Barry yelled, his hands in the air to at least try and show Len how big deal this was. Didn’t he get they could kick him out of school?! What would Barry do then?!

 

“Do you even know how hard it is to find soft snow right now? Any time it falls it melts right away and then it just freezes over. I needed a projectile!”

 

“He said you threw it after the fight ended!”

 

“And that there? _Lie_. My hand was in motion and the ice flew out from my hand on its own and _just then_ did he yell stop.”

 

Barry huffed and glared at Len, who was too busy mimicking Barry’s stance from moments ago with his own arms crossing over his chest. But wait. Barry’s eyes narrowed when he thought back to the name the principal said.

 

“Isn’t he the boy you said you disliked the other day, because he was bullying that gay kid you sit near to?”

 

“… the lunch at the cafeteria was really good today, though.” Len said and started walking again and Barry groaned.

 

“Len!”

 

***

“So what do you think?” Barry asked, excited. Len lifted an eyebrow from where he was lying on the bed, the textbook opened and propped on his chest.

 

“Are you trying to scare them off?” He asked and Barry sent Len a glare.

 

“Thank you for being supportive.” Barry said and shook his head, pulling off his tie. Len could be so _stupid_ when he wanted to be.

 

“So what do _you_ suggest?” He asked, narrowing his eyes as he leaned back against the wall. Usually he would ask someone else for help with this, like Iris for example, but she already broke his trust with the whole ‘I have this friend’ date thing. Why was she even setting him up, still? It wasn’t like Barry didn’t tell her he was being exactly fine where he was standing at the moment.

 

“Bailing on her and asking Lisa out?”

 

Okay, Barry actually laughed at _that_.

 

“ _Hell_ no.”

 

“Why not?” Len asked, frowning. “You don’t think Lisa is pretty enough?” And there was that offended tone that Len liked using so much that made Barry roll his eyes.

 

“Of course I think Lisa is hot.” Len shrugged at that and Barry sighed. “But I like my balls attached where they are.” And he had a feeling that if he was going out with Lisa, they’ll be attached to her key-chain or something, ready to use when _she_ wanted them. Which, okay, maybe he shouldn’t say that in front of thirteen years old kid, but when Barry was his age, he was thinking about bunch of stuff. So a little talk about balls shouldn’t be a problem. As long as Joe doesn’t hear that.

 

“Yeah, well, _my_ life would be easier. If you two just got married I could be with both of you, all the time.”

 

… was his child really sulking? Barry sighed and walked over to Len, before sitting on the bed next to him.

 

“Len, we talked about this over and over again. First, while I want what’s best for you, I can’t marry someone just to make you happy and then have our whole family suffer through all possible misunderstandings. Second, I like Lisa just fine, but I’m not in love with her, but that doesn’t mean you two can’t spend time together, okay? I’ll even spend the time with you when my work doesn’t get in the way.” Len was still sulking so Barry sighed and reached over, messing Len’s hair.

 

“Also, Lisa is in a bit of relationship with Cisco. You don’t want to mess that up for her, do you?”

 

“He’s a nerd.” Len complained and Barry beamed.

 

“But your sister likes him. And I’m a nerd, too.”

 

“Oh, I noticed that.” Len muttered and Barry rolled his eyes before standing up again.

 

“So, which tie?”

 

“I still say you should ditch.”

 

“Well, I can’t, I don’t have a valid reason to-“ Barry started, just to be interrupted by his phone ringing. Seeing it’s a call from STAR labs, he grinned at Len. “NOW I do. Can you call the woman for me?” Barry asked, before changing in his costume in a flash.

 

“Sure.” Len shrugged, ignored the ‘good boy’ part, and waited for Barry to leave before he picked up the phone.

 

“Hello? Are you supposed to go on a date with Barry Allen? Great, I have a message for you, then. He says he won’t manage, because fuck you.” He said, all happy and cheerful before disconnecting the call and putting the phone down. Now, where was that TV remote? Flash coming for rescue will be surely on at least one of the channels.

 

***

“No.” Barry said, frowning. Everyone around them was quiet, Cisco and Caitlin sharing a glance with Iris, before she stood up and made some excuse about coffee run, taking those two along – which left Barry and Len alone.

 

“Why not?”

 

“Why not?!” Barry asked and he would’ve laughed if he had a feeling that this was the tiniest bit funny. “This is a dangerous thing, Len!”

 

“You do it!”

 

“Yes, but I’m an adult! I’m responsible for my own actions!”

 

Len huffed.

 

“I’m older than you!”

 

Barry’s eyes narrowed at that. That little shit.

 

“No, you’re not. Your name is officially Leonard Allen-Snart and that one is just fifteen years old. Which is still underage, which _means_ ,” Barry continued quickly when he noticed Len opening his mouth, “that _I’m_ still the one responsible for you, and that you should listen to me.”

 

“Batman has a sidekick.”

 

Really? That was what the kid was pulling out?

 

“ _Batman_ is a rumor.”

 

“ _You_ were a rumor once too.” Len pointed out, cocking his head to the side. “Also the crime going down in Gotham begs to differ.”

 

“The crime going down is thanks to Commissioner Gordon and he himself said he doesn’t work with vigilan-“

 

Len laughed at that, interrupted Barry’s explanation and he shook his head.

 

“Not even you believe that. Yes, maybe Batman isn’t out there officially yet, but there are talks about him – and a little kid as his sidekick. Hell, the kid isn’t even twelve probably.” And there was just _something_ about the way that Len said that, something that made Barry’s eyes narrow as he turned to the boy.

 

“And how would you know that?”

 

“Rumors.” Len smiled innocently and Barry shook his head.

 

“No. That’s the definite answer.” Barry said, and speeded out of the Labs. And he didn’t even need to hear what Len was yelling after him, he knew that he was a coward even on his own. The kid finally had a life – Barry wasn’t willing to risk it. He could never know when a meta would be quicker or smarter than expected and the thought of Len getting hurt – Barry ran faster, forcing the thought out of his mind.

 

***

“You… never understood that no is a no.” Barry groaned out, one of his hands pressing against his chest. He could already hear Caitlin saying that those ribs were broken. Thank god for his quick healing.

 

“Which is your only luck.” Len said, the gun lifted to his side as he offered a hand to Barry. Barry sighed, taking it, letting Len pull him out – and just where did the boy get so much strength? Was he working out secretly?

 

“Where did you get the cold gun?” Because Barry was pretty sure he didn’t see that one anywhere ever since he took Len in. Which was few years now and he and the team believed it was destroyed along with that strange energy that messed up Len.

 

“Lisa gave it to me. For Christmas last year.” The brat said, all wide smirk and cocky and Barry will have to talk to Lisa. Or just install the thing they had on airplanes for picking up guns at their door. And if Len had the cold gun –

 

“Don’t even try – he’s not dead.” Len said, and Barry could _see_ his eyes rolling behind the blue mask that was covering them, “I modified the gun a bit. And I called ambulance before I got here. It takes them exactly three minutes to get here. At the power the gun is on right now, the guy will start getting real frostbites at four fifty. They have more than enough time to get him out of it.” When Barry still didn’t say anything, Len’s shoulders fell a bit. “I wouldn’t kill him.” He said quietly and Barry took a deep breath, then quickly regretted that as the pain shot up his side and slid his arm over Len’s shoulders. Only partly because he needed the support.

 

“I know. You’re a good kid.” And he knew that Len, even though he kept putting on brave front, was still a bit torn. For Lisa, he wanted to be who he was before. For Barry, he wanted to change and the way he kept looking at him whenever he thought he did something wrong…

 

“I’m proud of you, you know.” Barry said quietly and Len looked up at him. Barry could imagine his eyes being all wide and he smiled even brighter. “You grew up better than I though. Guess not even I could mess you up.”

 

“I’m not who I was” Len said, frowning. Barry nodded. Oh he knew that.

 

He still remembered that talk they had, Lisa sitting with them and helping Barry explain to Len just who he was before he got de-aged. Joe didn’t agree with the idea. He was strongly against Barry telling Len he was a criminal in his life before, but Barry was with Lisa there. All those years, they were part of Len too, they helped form him and Barry felt like Len deserved to know. He already lost his memories of most of his life, including his sister and Rory and he didn’t want to rob him more of that bond that the Snart siblings shared.

 

Barry still remembered how he spend the whole night holding Len close, whispering promises of how everything was going to be okay. Of how Barry was going to make sure that Len has the best life that he could give him. And secretly, Barry made a promise to love that kid with as much love as his heart could, because if there was someone who deserved it, it was Len.

 

“I know. You are, and you aren’t. You’re still you.” Barry said and smiled at the kid, running his hand over boy’s scalp. “You’re still smart, cunning, you can still see the connections other people can’t. You still value your family over anything else. You’re willing to bring yourself in danger for them, us. You’re still annoying with bad puns, and you don’t listen to reason, if you think you have a higher goal. Or if you just think you’re right and the rest of us are mistaking. All in all, you’re still you. It’s your values that moved and I think in the right direction. I was lucky to know you then, and I’m lucky to know you now.”

 

“Do you miss the old me sometimes?” Len asked, and Barry wouldn’t even need to feel how Len’s back tensed to know the kid was so afraid of Barry’s answer. Hearing his voice would be enough.

 

Barry huffed, pushing Len’s head down and out of the way as he started walking towards the STAR labs.

 

“Why would I, if I have you right here, right now, partner?”

 

“Wait… does that mean yes to the sidekick?!” Len asked, hurrying after Barry.

 

“I believe you proved to us both that my decision there is not as important.” Barry said, before rolling his eyes. “Especially since your sister is a regular weapon dealer now, supposedly.” He muttered bitterly. Really. Didn’t Lisa know what kinds of gifts were acceptable?!

 

“Does she get points for _giving_ it to me instead of _selling_ it to me?” Len offered and Barry huffed.

 

“No.” He said, then stopped, frowned and turned to the kid. “Do I want to know what Mick got you for that Christmas?” When Len grimaced Barry sighed. “Probably not, hm.”

 

Seriously, from now on, Barry was giving Lisa and Mick list of gifts that they could get Len and he was scanning each and every present delivered to their house. Not to mention putting some kind of bug on Len.

 

…not that the kid wouldn’t find it and destroy it, but Barry liked living in his naive little world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, kudos, suggestions, criticism are love. Feel free to leave something if you're comfortable with it, and I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did :D 
> 
> Come and join me at [My tumblr ](http://gemenice.tumblr.com) if you want :D


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